


Sundays Suck

by WrittenKinzy18



Series: Winged Multiverse [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Wings, Bad Sanses | Nightmare's Gang (Undertale), Big Brother Papyrus (Undertale), Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Love, Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Dreamtale Nightmare Sans Being a Jerk (Undertale), Dreamtale Sans | Dream (Undertale), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Errortale Sans (Undertale), Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Inktale Sans (Undertale), Minor Character Death, Overprotective, Overprotective Papyrus (Undertale), Papyrus (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Papyrus (Undertale)-centric, Protective Papyrus (Undertale), Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Secrets, Star Sanses (Undertale), Underlust Sans (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), Undertale Saves and Resets, Very Minor, Worried Papyrus (Undertale), Younger Brother Sans (Undertale), little bit of fighting, rated mostly for cursing, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29630157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenKinzy18/pseuds/WrittenKinzy18
Summary: Today was supposed to be Papyrus' day off, but alas, that's ruined by a gang of murderous Sans-lookalikes and the ones meant to fight them. He didn't want to get wrapped up in this multiverse crap, and he definitely didn't want his brother in it either.Aka, Underswap in the Winged Multiverse, featuring Overprotective Papyrus and Blue just having None of That.Might change the title later lmao.
Relationships: Blue & Error, Blue & Lust & Ink & Dream, Blue & The Bad Sanses, Error & Ink, I'm not naming off every friendship here lmao, Papyrus & Sans (Undertale)
Series: Winged Multiverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030311
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	Sundays Suck

**Author's Note:**

> It's very late. I apologize for any errors I definitely made somewhere oof.
> 
> Should probably start doing this as well:  
> Winged:  
> Underswap  
> Dream  
> Underlust (but he hides them)  
> Horrortale (Webbed, but most of the webbing is torn off anyway)  
> Killertale  
> Errortale (Webbed)
> 
> Not Winged:  
> Dusttale  
> X-Tale  
> Nightmare  
> Ink (he can make fake, stiffer ones though)

Papyrus loved Sundays.

The weekend was always nice, of course. It was the one time he wasn’t scheduled at his sentry stations, though he still pops by his corn dog stand on and off. It was his main time of relaxation, cycling back and forth through the familiar pattern of Muffet’s and napping. It really wasn’t all too different than weekdays, really. He just didn’t have to add pretending-to-work to that pattern as well.

However, Sundays were extra special. It was the day before Chara would come from the Ruins, doing whatever timeline they’d gotten wrapped into that time, and it was also the day Sans mostly spent training with Alphys.

That meant he had the whole house all to himself for nearly the entire day.

Honestly, this was both good and bad. The Resets usually landed him sometime in the afternoon of Saturday, right before Sans would come in to wake him from his afternoon nap. Having an entire day to himself immediately after a Reset wasn’t always the best. It left him with a lot of time to think; more time than he had throughout the night. If the last Reset was a Genocide run, his Sunday was often spent reliving the worst of it in his mind, like a film stuck on repeat.

It also left him with time to plan their next moves, though. He, Chara, and Temmie were still working on ways to stop Frisk. It was a slow process, but any time to think it through without a knife at his neck was much welcomed.

Thankfully, the last few routes had been peaceful. He and Chara had actually done quite a bit of research, and he was pretty sure they were on to something. It was a small hope, but anything was better than nothing.

But, for now, his Sunday alone was welcomed with open arms. Sans wouldn’t be back until late in the afternoon, and he wasn’t expected at Muffet’s for another few hours. It was the perfect time to _not_ do anything and let his wings out for once.

(He’d rather no one see how dull and crooked they were, after all. Heck, Papyrus didn’t want to. However, the relief of not using so much magic to hide them was too tempting.)

Papyrus sighed contently, further leaning into the cushions. His dull orange wings fanned out across the couch comfortably, one stretching out along the floor. If there was one thing he liked about the Resets (which was very little), it was the predictability, especially before the kid came around to Snowdin.

Well, mostly. Sans had been a little off Pre-Chara schedule in the last dozen or so timelines.

The thought had Papyrus furrowing his brow.

His brother was leaving the house more and more often, coming home late as well. He’d always apologize and make late night tacos (as he didn’t trust Papyrus to have eaten anything outside of Muffet’s sweets and honey — rightfully so), but it was starting to become irregular in the constant series of events he was used to.

At first, he was scared it had something to do with that dark, glitched skeleton who disappeared with his brother for nearly a week — a consistent week, nonetheless, as Chara was too worried to continue on their journey when they found out about it, unsure if a Reset would ruin anything — but that didn’t line up. His strange schedule started long after he’d miraculously returned. Papyrus debated following his brother to find out but forced the temptation from his mind. He already secretly tailed his brother enough while the human was around. He didn’t want to be even _more_ overbearing. Instead, he asked Sans more questions about where he had been disappearing to.

“Oh! I’m just going out to see my friends, mweheheh!”

“I had planned a movie night with some friends!”

“Ah, sorry, Pappy! My friends… really need to talk right now! It’s kinda last minute but, I’ll make some tacos when I get back!”

Friends. No matter the time, place, or circumstance, whenever Sans was off schedule, it was because of friends.

That’s when he stopped worrying. At least, not as much. Temmie was the only friend Sans really hung out with, besides Alphys and possibly some kids around Snowdin. Temmie was also one of the only other monsters that could remember the Resets. Of course his interference would be irregular.

Had this been _before_ the little shitstain expressed his boredom with the Resets, Papyrus might have been a little more cautious. Maybe he still should be. Who knows what could be going on in that fucked up cat-dog-thing’s head?

But, he resolved himself to just keeping a better eye on the both of them. It was easier that way, and it eased his nerves a little.

The tall skeleton shook his head a bit, grunting as he readjusted himself into a more comfortable position. He itched for a cigarette but didn’t feel like leaving the house to smoke it outside. His feathers twitched a little bit as he relaxed.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about anything. All those worries would be eventually Reset anyway.

Lazily, Papyrus settled enough to doze into a light sleep.

He blearily blinked his eye sockets open at a sudden crash outside. There was a bit of shouting, followed by laughter, all muffled through the walls. Confused, the skeleton checked the clock by the television.

Not even an hour had passed. What on earth was going on?

A spark of confusion and trepidation swelled in his soul. This… wasn’t a part of the usual Sunday routine.

As he went to sit up to peak out the window, a figure smashed through the glass and landed in a heap on his living room floor. Papyrus threw up his wings and arms instinctually, shielding himself from the flurry of glass shards that rained down upon him. In a flash of orange, he teleported near the stairwell, shaking himself of the sharp debris. Eye sockets narrowed, he turned to the intruder.

“Who the fuck-?” He froze midsentence, jaw dropping. “S-Sans?!”

Sure enough, his shorter brother was shakily getting to his feet, his own large blue wings flicking shards, dirt, and snow from their feathers. His battle body was scraped up more than usual, a very visible tear running from his right shoulder to his left hip bone. His blue bandana, usually so well looked after, was crooked and filthy. He looked frustrated, expression pinched in, dare he say, determination.

“Ow,” he muttered, more out of annoyance than actually meaning anything. “Did you really have to throw me through a window?!”

A dark chuckle came from outside, barely audible over the sounds of fighting that was now a lot louder with their window smashed in. “What, didja think I’d play fair?”

Sans’ wings drooped. “No, but even this is a bit overkill!”

“Oh, I’m _so_ sorry. Just thought the _Magnificent Blueberry_ could handle a little tough love!”

Huffing, Sans glared out the broken window. “Don’t use my words against me!”

“What the fuck,” Papyrus hissed, gaining his brother’s attention. Sans looked frightened for a moment before his eyelights landed on his wings. His shoulders then relaxed, and he smiled brightly.

“Sorry, other Paps!” he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “We’ll get outta your hair soon. Er, not hair, but you get what I mean.”

No. No he did not. “Sans, what the fuck’s going on?!”

“Language!” The smaller skeleton huffed. “And don’t worry! I’m not _your_ Sans. We were fighting in another universe, but someone opened a portal during the battle, and now we’re all here. Just give us a few minutes and we’ll have the bad guys all rounded up and out of your AU in no time!”

Papyrus blinked a few times, still not quite comprehending — universes? Portals? “ _Your_ Sans”? What?! — but before he could question it anymore, an axe flew through the window and lodged itself in the wall just where Sans’ head had been. Had the smaller skeleton not ducked when he had, Papyrus would have certainly had to clean his possibly-not-brother’s dust from the carpet.

At least that’d be easier than digging it out of the snow.

Instead of looking fearful or defensive, as is a _normal_ reaction to nearly getting an axe to the face, Sans popped up with an angry pout and flared his wings. “Horror!”

Another skeleton (which made _no sense_ ) popped up over the windowsill, a dark grin stretching along his face. He had a large hole in the side of his skull, and two boney bat wings behind him, devoid of their leather webbing. “Whoops. My entire arm slipped.” He leaned onto the broken glass as if it were a casual bar table.

Sans pointed at him accusingly, flapping his wings with the same energy as a toddler stomping their foot. “Don’t be rude! I’m trying to talk over here!”

“And _I’m_ trying to fight. Not my fault ya got distracted in a battle.”

“It’s still rude to interrupt!”

“My bad. Hey, can’ya pass me my axe?”

Sans crossed his arms. “Not if you’re just going to throw it at my skull again!”

“Alrigh’, I’ll aim for your chest.”

Rolling his eyelights, Sans turned around, grabbing the handle of the rusted axe. With a firm yank, he pulled it free from the wood and started towards the other skeleton.

Shaking himself from his stupor, Papyrus teleported in front of his brother and pulled the bloody weapon from his hand. “What are you doing?!”

Sans blinked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“What do I- Sans! He just threw an _axe_ at your _head_ , and you’re just gonna give it back?!”

Realization flickered through those blue eyelights. “Oh! No, don’t worry, other Paps! Horror wouldn’t have done that if he thought I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings! We may fight a lot, but we also know some boundaries now! No killing each other outside of our universes!”

“I- what?! What does that even-?!”

All words were ripped from him as his soul was turned blue and he was suddenly falling backwards. It was a completely unfamiliar sensation, as no one else but him had been able to use blue magic like this in years. Before Papyrus could have the sense to teleport, two thin arms were wrapped around his neck, and boney wings pinned his own off to the side. That skeleton, Horror, propped his head on Papyrus’ shoulder, his single red eyelight narrowed dangerously.

“Don’t go ‘round underestimatin’ Blue now there, _Paps,_ ” he muttered, one clawed hand snatching the worn weapon from his grip. “Be glad this AU ain’t on the list tonight. I don’t like killin’ a Papyrus unless I _really_ have ta.” With that, he let the taller skeleton go and disappeared in a flash of red magic. He blearily heard the screech of another monster somewhere down the road, followed by Horror’s rumbly chuckles.

Papyrus snapped around to look outside, his soul alit with terror. Multiple skeletons were fighting in the snowy street, each dancing around each other like this was an everyday occurrence. It looked to be an uneven battle, with five darker looking monsters attacking three rather brightly colored ones.

His chest felt like a snake had wriggled its way around him, squeezing the air from his ribs. Last time an unfamiliar skeleton showed up out of nowhere and stirred up trouble, his brother had been taken from him. That feeling had been so much worse than seeing that dusty blue bandana, because that tie, he wasn’t sure if Sans would come back. Now, there was more than just one new skeleton, and they were literally right outside their door.

Though, really, could the one covered in black tar, tentacles stretching from his back rather than wings, _truly_ be called a skeleton? He almost didn’t want to know.

What was even worse was the obvious dust piles and scrapped clothing littering the snow, clear signs that other monsters had gotten caught up in the fray as well and weren’t quite so lucky.

“Sorry about the window again, other Pappy!” Sans called from behind him. The orange clad skeleton whipped around to face him. Sans — Blue? Who was this?! — was waving at him from his front door, which he was now opening, exiting as though there wasn’t a murderous battle going on outside. “Ink’ll likely fix it before we leave. Um, if he remembers to. If not, it’ll be better next Reset! If you know what that means! Bye!”

Oh, hell no.

Grabbing the smaller monster by his soul with blue magic, Papyrus pinned Sans to the wall just beside the kitchen, well away from both the window and the doorway. Sans looked bewildered at his actions, struggling to push himself up.

“I don’t know what the fuck is happening right now,” Papyrus hissed, quickly moving to shut the front door again. A bone attack impaled the wood almost immediately after, just narrowly missing his hand, “but there is no way in _hell_ you’re going back out there.”

“I- Paps, I’m not-“

“I _know that!_ You keep saying so! But I don’t care! Alternate version or not, you are still my brother, and I don’t want to see you get _dusted_ because you’re being too nice in a battle!”

A flash of hurt crossed Sans’ face before annoyance bled into it. “I’m not a child! I’ve been fighting them for longer than you know!”

“I don’t care, Sans! You willingly gave one of their weapons back when they asked! I’m not letting you go out there!”

Eye sockets narrowed angrily, Sans snapped his wings and yelled, “You’re not _letting me_ do anything, because you can’t boss me around!” He stuffed his hand into his pants pocket, pulling out a small vial. Papyrus watched in confusion as the other skeleton smashed the glass on the floor, scattering blue paint across the floor. Almost immediately, the puddle expanded and shaped itself into another skeleton carrying a large paintbrush, small rainbow wings on his back.

There were some annoyed shouts from outside, likely due to the fact this skeleton had up and left the battle.

“What’s happening?” the other said casually, eyelights flickering through symbols and colors. He quickly took in the scene around him, eyelights finally settling on duel colored exclamation points. He threw up his brush, sending a wave of pink paint at Papyrus.

Eye sockets widening, Papyrus just barely side stepped the attack, letting the paint splatter across the front door. His crooked wings came up to block the backsplash, staining his feathers. With a disgusted grunt, he turned back to the others, only to find the room empty.

“Shit!” he hissed, whipping around to pull the front door open. Sure enough, a bright blur of blue had joined the fray.

Sans was dropped from the air where the other skeleton reappeared, landing directly on top of a Blaster skull with mismatched blue and red eyes (where these monsters got Blasters, Papyrus had no idea.) He stabbed two bone attacks into the large skull, pulling it up just as it fired its attack. The purple beam of magic shot towards the Underground ceiling rather than at the violet-clad wingless monster fighting below. Sans then shoved his bone attacks further into the Blaster, finally making it dissipate. 

His maybe-not-brother caught his fall with a flap of his wings, turning to block a knife thrown his way easily. A skeleton in yellow landed just behind him, golden wings held low beside him as he fired an arrow towards the tar-covered monster further ahead. As the large monster screeched, Sans bumped his wings playfully with the golden ones beside him before running towards Horror and a hooded skeleton beside him.

Bones of all shapes and sizes were sticking out of the snow everywhere, feathers littering the ground. There were so many Blaster skulls firing at each other, Papyrus couldn’t tell which belonged to who, and he couldn’t find it in himself to care. A cracked one had formed just behind Sans, a ball of blood red magic already forming in its maw.

Quickly, Papyrus had his own Blaster summoned, incinerating the one that had been aimed at his brother. This grabbed the interested attention of the two monsters Sans had been charging.

The one in the hood grinned gleefully, disappearing and reappearing right in front of Papyrus with a sharp purple bone in his hand. Not expecting anyone to teleport, Papyrus’ reaction was slow, just barely dodging the stab to his chest.

“Seems we’ve got ourselves a little straggler, Paps,” the crazed skeleton said, though somehow, it didn’t seem to be aimed towards Papyrus himself. “Easy EXP, doncha think?”

“Dust!” The purple skeleton from before popped up between the two in a flash of pink, immediately setting up a wall of bones to block Dust’s advances. “This isn’t the Universe you guys were targeting!”

He scoffed. “Duh. We were in a Storyspin, not Underswap. Doesn’t mean we can’t cause a bitta chaos here.”

The other glared heatedly. “Papyruses, Sanses, or Charas are the pillars of Underswaps! You don’t know if killing him will collapse the AU!”

“And I should care, _why?”_

“We’re _in it_ , moron!”

“You act like the AU would vanish in an instant. There’d be time to get out.” Crazed grin back in place, Dust summoned a large Blaster behind him, teleporting away as it fired at the wall of bones.

The wingless skeleton in front of him quickly grabbed Papyrus’ sweatshirt, teleporting them both away from the blast. Papyrus swayed as they landed near Muffet’s, unused to being pulled through a shortcut unwillingly. The smaller monster turned back to him with slightly apologetic purple eyelights. “Sorry, hun. You need to leave this to us though, alright?”

“Leave this- my brother is out there!”

“I get it. I’d be pretty frustrated if I saw my Paps fighting like this as well. But, look around.” He gestured to the battle, still heatedly happening down the street. The skeleton with the paintbrush had managed to pin down the monochrome wingless monster, finally moving on to help the golden one. Concerningly, Sans was still pitted against the two other murderous monsters by himself. “They’re _all_ Sanses here. Some of them are reluctant to hurt you, but most of them will. We know how to fight them. We have been for a long time now. You’re just putting yourself in unnecessary danger.”

Papyrus struggled for a moment before finally asking, “These are _all_ alternate versions of Sans?”

The other nodded with a calming smile. “They’re the Bad Sanses, and we’re the Stars. I’m sure Dream will catch you up on all this shit when it’s all settled. For now, just wait here while we-“

“Ah, _here’s_ where you disappeared to!”

Another of the Bad Sanses dropped from above them, his large black wings spread out like a fallen angel. He had dark liquid dripping from his eye sockets, smearing along his face and teeth. With a large grin, he thrust a knife towards the purple clad monster below him.

Papyrus had just moved to pull the Star away when the attacker’s fall was cut short. He grunted, smile falling to a confused frown as he was suddenly pulled upward instead.

“What the fuck- ow!” Blue strings wrapped around his armed hand, squeezing tightly until he dropped the knife. Similar strings were curled around his frame, suspending him awkwardly in the air. That look of confusion faded to one of frustration. “Stars dammit.”

A relieved smile crossed the wingless skeleton’s face. “Ah, Error’s here.” He blinked, rubbing the back of his skull uncertainly. “That could either be good or bad.”

Papyrus was still staring at the blue strings, anger welling up in his chest. He snapped his head towards the battle, watching as all the Bad Sanses (plus the one with the paintbrush) where strung up in a similar fashion, all loudly voicing their complaints.

He immediately teleported back, leaving the other two behind.

Sans had his hands up victoriously, standing below the hanging figures of Horror and Dust. The golden Star was smiling nervously beside him, eyelights flickering around in obvious unease. The monochrome skeleton was still plastered to a tree with purple paint, though a few strings had been wrapped around the trunk and him as well. His face was pinched in annoyance, muttering something about overkill. The Star with the rainbow wings was hanging upside down by his feet, his large paintbrush strung up just out of reach, with the goopy skeleton tied up beside him. The larger monster was practically seething.

The glitched skeleton was nowhere in sight.

“This is stupid,” Horror grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. His axe was tied firmly to his back, still clutched in his hand over his shoulder as though he was about to throw it.

“Error always ruins everything,” Dust practically pouted.

“What did I do, Ruru?” the only tied up Star whined, swinging in an attempt to reach his brush. In response, the string holding his weapon were pulled up and further away.

“You fucking brought the fight _here,_ you fucking moron!” a familiar glitched voice shouted. Papyrus spun around, glaring at the dark skeleton who stood by his home, arms crossed and scowling. His fingers were still tied to his strings, stretched up towards the Underground ceiling.

“Error!” Sans called happily.

“Hi.”

“Um, what are you doing here exactly?” the yellow Star asked sheepishly.

“He _means_ to ask who’s side you’re on,” the goopy skeleton hissed, yanking a tentacle free. It was fruitless, as more strings just came down to entrap it again.

Error shot his glare his way. “I’m not on either of your fucking sides! You idiots were the ones to drag your fucking fight to an OG universe!” His heated gaze flickered to the skeleton hanging beside the other. “Ink…”

The skeleton, Ink, threw his hands up — er, down — in surrender. “Don’t look at me! My portals are paint like! I didn’t bring us here!”

“Well, _I_ fucking didn’t,” the tar covered monster growled.

“Oh dear,” the yellow skeleton murmured. “Who opened the portal then?”

“Wasn’t me.”

“I don’t think I did.”

“I can’t open portals, so…”

“I don’t give a _shit_ who did it!” Error yelled. “ _Ink_ should have fucking known what AU you were in!”

“We’re sorry, Error!” Sans spoke up, taking a few steps toward the other. “None of us knew! We can leave now though, right?”

Those yellow and blue eyelights flickered to his brother, making Papyrus bristle. He stepped forward to intervene but paused as the other’s gaze softened a bit. “They should be apologizing to _you_ , Blue.”

Sans tilted his head in confusion before his eyelights landed on Papyrus. After a few seconds, his eye sockets widened, and his wings lowered. “Oh.”

Slowly, realization swept through the other skeletons. Realization of what, Papyrus wasn’t certain. A couple sharp intakes of breath and many tensed shoulders later, almost all the present skeletons were shifting awkwardly in their positions. The only two that seemed to not care were the goopy octopus and the one with black liquid in his eyes. A golden wing draped itself across Sans’ shoulders as the taller monster beside him gazed back apologetically. “Blue, I’m so sorry…”

The shorter skeleton shook his head, forcing a small smile. “No, no, it’s alright. Uh, he was bound to find out eventually, I guess.”

“Still… It should have been on your own terms.”

“Well, who says it’s not?” Quickly, that bright grin came back to Sans’ face. “I can just… explain it right now! Mweheh!”

With a disgruntled sigh, Error waved his hand. Ink was quickly released from his confines and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. As he started to get up, his brush was then dropped on top of him, pushing him back into the snow. “I’ll take these assholes while you fuckers clean up this mess,” Error grumbled while Ink pouted from the floor.

Papyrus glared back at him as he opened multiple glitchy portals below the strung up bad guys. “You gonna make them disappear for a week as well, _pal?_ ”

The darker skeleton barely gave him a glance in response, flicking his webbed wings before curling them comfortably behind him. With a snap, the strings holding the others airborne were gone, allowing the murderous skeletons to drop into the ready portals. Most went with bored expressions, grumbling about party poopers and not getting to have their fun. The large monster with tentacles expertly avoided the portal, landing on his feet beside it.

His single green eye glared at Error. “I’m not done wi-“

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Error waved a hand dismissively, only pissing the other off more. “Go feed off a different fucking AU, Nightmare.”

“We have unfinished fucking business, _Error_.”

“Great, take it up with someone who cares.” He snapped his fingers, summoning two black, glitchy Blaster behind him. “Either you leave the easy way, or the hard way. Your little gremlins ain’t here to back you up. Do you really want to fight the Destroyer _and_ the Stars?” Nightmare growled, his glare hardening, but slowly, his tentacles lowered behind him. Error grinned. “That’s what I thought.” With a wave of his hand, another portal appeared behind the hostile monster. He barely gave it a glance. “That leads to Horrorswap. Figured you’d want a little negativity run after all that, eh?”

Nightmare scoffed, opening his own portal. “Fuck you,” he hissed. One of his dripping limbs snapped back behind him, ripping the wingless, monochrome skeleton from where he was still glued to the tree trunk. They both slipped away easily, the now paint-stained skeleton offering a half-hearted wave as he disappeared.

Error snorted, closing the offered portal and turning back to the others. “Whatever.” He crossed his arms again, raising a brow at the Stars, all of whom gathered together around Papyrus. “Am I needed for this or can I go back to my show?”

Sans spared a glance at his brother, wincing as he saw the murderous expression on his face. With a sheepish smile, the smallest shook his head Error’s way. “Um, no, I think you’d better go. Thank you for the help though!”

“He’s not-!”

Sans’ blue wing snapped up in Papyrus’ face, muffling his words. The tallest sputtered, pushing it away from him and spitting out a few stray feathers. Sans merely smiled and waved at the glitchy monster. “See ya later, Error!”

“Bye, Ruru! See you at home!”

“No, you won’t.” With a humph, Error was gone into his own portal, leaving the others with a disarray of dust, bones, strings, and a very confused brother.

As soon as the others finally could relax, Sans turned a sheepish look to Papyrus. “I’m really sorry, Pappy. This is a bit of a mess…”

“So it’s not _other_ Paps, now?” he grumbled, a little harsher than he meant to. He immediately regretted it, seeing Sans’ guilty wince, but didn’t take his words back.

“I’m… sorry,” the other muttered. Papyrus didn’t like how unenthusiastic his usually energetic brother was. “I thought we were in another Underswap. You don’t usually have your wings out, and we’re not technically allowed to fight in OG worlds.”

After a short, awkward pause, the golden winged Sans smiled warmly and stepped forward. “How about we start with a little introduction? So that we’re all basically on same page. I’m Dream, co-leader of the Star Sanses. Ink here is the other leader, this is Lust, and, uh, well, you know Blue.”

“The Sanses we were fighting were Nightmare’s Gang: Dust, Horror, Cross, and Killer,” Lust added, picking a bit of debris from the blue fur of his vest. “Just in case their names pop up as well.”

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets. “So you’re all from different universes?”

Dream nodded. “Yes, this-“

With a yelp, Sans’ soul was once again blue, and he found himself pulled towards his brother. Papyrus’ hands were immediately on his shoulders, pulling him in to his midriff and wrapping the smaller protectively in his wings. “Cool,” he grumbled, left eye flashing orange briefly. “You did you’re thing. Now leave.”

Sans pushed against him, wings fluttering anxiously. “Pappy, wait-“

“ _No_ , I’m not dealing with more interdimensional bullshit, and neither are you!”

“I-!”

“Last time someone came around, you were fucking kidnapped, Sans!”

“I know, but-!”

“You’re going to leave or I’ll-“

“Will you let me _fucking_ talk?!”

Papyrus froze, giving Sans the opportunity to wiggle out of his hold and back away. He glared heartily at his brother, fists clenched and shaking in his sudden anger. Both of his wings were angled to the ground, the wrists almost brushing the show. The three Stars behind him wore similar shocked expressions on their faces, staring down at Sans with wide eye sockets. Lust raised a hand as though to calm the other, but hesitated.

“You _always_ do this!” Sans hissed. “Everyone here does! You all treat me as if I can’t fend for myself, or that my empathy and kindness is some kind of mental illness that’ll get me in trouble if not monitored right! I _know_ how to defend myself, and I know how to defend others! I’m not a weak _child_ anymore, yet that’s all you ever see me as!” He threw his hands in the air, blue feathers fluffing out more with each word. “Everyone in this AU just seems to think I can’t do anything but be loud and make tacos, but that’s _not true!_ ”

Papyrus stuttered, wings drooping. “I… Sans, no one thinks you-“

“ _Bullshit!_ ” Papyrus jolted a bit, so unused to his brother swearing. “You _constantly_ follow me around when you think I can’t see you or check up with Alphys to find out where I am! Stars, you and Alphys talk _all the time_ about me and how I’m not fit for the Royal Guard, how she should just keep _stalling me_ until I realize it!”

“Sans…”

“Well, guess what? I realize it now! I realize I’m not meant for the Royal Guard, because I have a spot so much more important than that, with people that actually _encourage_ me! People that actually _try_ in training and let me do things outside just sparing and cooking lessons! I’ve saved entire universes, kept countless monsters from losing their own wings, singlehandedly held off the literal king of all things negative, all while _befriending_ the ones I was supposed to fight! But no, you still see me as the tiny, weak minded, too-kind-for-his-own-good, can’t-recognize-a-bad-guy-if-they-stabbed-him-in-the-face, little brother.” Sans finally stopped, closing his sockets to take a deep breath. He ran his hands down his face, slumping forward a bit.

No one really had anything to say to that.

Lust finally stepped forward to lay his hand comfortingly on Sans’ shoulder, rubbing it slighting. Dream draped his wing over the two and sighed. He looked up at the taller skeleton. “I get you’re concerned,” he said softly, yellow eyes warm, “but trust me when I say Blue is an incredible person and a very valuable member of our team. We all have a very necessary place as protectors, and his empathy and ability to care about everyone is a huge part of it. He balances us out, and whether they admit it or not, the Gang loves him.” He chuckled mirthlessly. “Well, most of them, anyway, but that’s besides the point. We all care about him and wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”

“Not that we really need to do much,” Lust added, moving closer so he could put his arm around Sans’ shoulder with a fond smile. “Little sweetheart packs a good punch when he needs to. He can really nibble on their ankles good, huh?”

Sans snorted, shoving the other away from him. “I’m not _that_ short.”

Making himself known, Ink practically jumped on the blue-clad monster’s back, grinning foolishly with his arms wrapped tight around Sans’ neck. “But you are the shortest! We checked and everything!”

“That doesn’t make me any less magnificent!”

“Of course not! Just means you’re the best at being small!”

“Mweheheh!”

Papyrus watched the interaction with a feeling of heavy guilt in his stomach. He could hardly pay attention to what they were saying. All he could focus on was the way these skeletons, these strangers to his universe, treat his brother with more respect than he ever had.

And wasn’t that the harsh truth? All this time, he and all of Sans’ friends just wanted what was best for him, only to actually undermine his potential. Subconsciously, Papyrus knew he hadn’t really been fair to treat his brother so delicately, and he wasn’t all that certain he always had been before the Resets. Sans wasn’t all that much younger, after all, and he certainly wasn’t stupid. A bit naïve maybe, but even that was questionable now. Still, he had pushed that feeling aside and did exactly what Sans accused him of: treated him like a child.

But what else was he to do? Even Alphys agreed that Sans wasn’t fit for fighting, let alone being on the Royal Guard. Was it really so wrong to try and protect his only family?

His wings fell a bit, shoulder slumping. Protecting was one thing, but he’d done more than that, hadn’t he? Papyrus had treated his brother like glass and tried to shield him from the world, and where had that gotten him?

A knife through the neck, over and over and over. What great _protection._

No, what he had done was cowardly. It was almost embarrassing that the idea of Sans’ defeated and heartbroken expression is what kept the Royal Judge and the Captain of the Royal Guard, not to mention every other monster in the Underground, from finally telling the small skeleton the truth.

Hie gaze drifted to the wreckage that was once Snowdin’s main road. Most of the ground’s snow had been melted to the dirt from the Blasters’ rays, scorching the path a harsh black. Bones of all different colors were scattered around, some slowly fading to dust now that their owners were gone. An entire torn up Blaster skull was still laying on its side near the tree line, its jaw missing and eyelights dark as it crumpled out of existence. Maybe what they believed was more what they had _wanted_ to be the truth. Preserving that innocence and childlike glee from the horrors of the real world had been their true goal, but now, from the very obvious way Sans had so casually fought two insane, LV filled monsters with a _smile,_ he’d shown he didn’t need that. Hell, he’d been doing things far more important than Papyrus could even imagine, if what he said about saving entire universes was anything to go by.

All this time he’d spent trying to hold Sans back, and these alternatives had been pulling him to greatness far from Papyrus’ reach.

He snorted humorlessly. No one knows you better than you know yourself, he guessed, alternate universe or not.

He sighed, folding his wings in and turning his attention back to the Stars. Sans was now back to his bubbly self, laughing and wrestling with Ink along the floor. Dream had stepped back beside Papyrus at some point, watching the two in amusement while Lust cheered them on from the sidelines, chucking snowballs at the both of them as “distractions.” Belatedly, Papyrus realized _these_ were the friends Sans had been talking about every time he’d asked the shorter skeleton where he’d been going. He almost felt stupid for thinking it was Temmie in the first place.

A slight smile twitched at his teeth. At least his brother had what he’d always wanted.

Dream suddenly perked up beside him, throwing him a short look of joy from the corner of his eye sockets. His golden wings glowed a bit brighter. Papyrus quirked an eye brow at him in confusion, which only gained a beaming smile in return. The yellow clad skeleton then turned back to the others, chuckling at the display. Sans had a grip on Ink’s wings, his foot pressing the other’s face in the dirt. Ink had a hold of his other foot, his captured wings flapping stiffly to whap Sans’ laughing face repeatedly. “Alright, guys,” Dream snorted, pressing a hand to his mouth as if to block the sounds coming out of it. “I think that’s enough fighting for today.”

“I will never give u-mph!” Sans spat out the red and orange feathers that stuffed into his mouth, refusing to let go of the wings.

Ink wriggled a bit, shaking in laughter. “You’ll be _begging_ for my mercy! As soon as I get up!”

“Mweheh! Not while I have your wings!”

Perking up, Ink smirked deviously, eyelights flickering to a yellow square and purple crosshair. “Oh right!” In a disgusting and _very_ concerning splash, those rainbow-colored wings were reduced to nothing more than paint, staining Sans’ arms and causing the smallest to fall backwards with a yelp. There were _many_ things Papyrus wanted to know about that but decided against asking. Scrambling to his feet, Ink threw his hands up in victory.

“No fair!” Sans giggled, shaking the color from his arms.

“All’s fair in- uh. In something! Fuck, I forgot the saying.”

Lust snorted, shoving the last snowball he had in Ink’s shirt. The artist screeched, pulling away and rubbing at his back. “It’s _love and war_ , hun.”

“Lust! I have too many layers on! I can’t get that out!”

“Oh, I know.”

“Oooh, stars! It’s in my pelvis! _It’s in my pelvis!”_

“Okay, okay, c’mon, everyone,” Dream once again interrupted, holding out his hands as though to calm them. No one did anything besides hold back their laughter as the now wingless skeleton hopped around, desperately trying to shake the snow out his pant leg. “We have some cleaning up to do here, then we can go, alright?”

Ink blinked, jiggling his foot around still. “Oh yeah, that happened.” He turned to Sans with an exclamation point and question mark in his eye sockets. “I didn’t realize you _could_ curse!”

“Of course, I can! I just don’t like to! I figured, since I never do, it would grab the most attention now, which is exactly what I needed, mweheh!”

Lust wiped away an imaginary tear. “I’ve taught you so well.”

Rolling his eyelights, Sans turned to Dream with a grin. “we’re good to go, Dream! What do we have to do?”

The Guardian gestured to Papyrus. “He’ll need an explanation since he won’t forget this, and we’ll likely have to force a Reset before Chara comes from the Ruins.”

Papyrus blinked in surprise. “Wait, what? Why?”

“Well, it’s unfortunate enough that you found out, but the human most definitely can’t. We try to avoid letting anyone aware of Resets find out about the multiverse as best as we can.” He looked back sheepishly at the damage caused by their battle. “And it would be best to do that soon, before your Royal Guard or Temmie gets wind of it. The less fighting, the better.”

“Uhuh…” Large orange wings shuffled uncertainly. “I… I guess I am a bit surprised the Pack hasn’t alerted Alphys yet…”

Sans cringed, his wings folding behind him. “Uh, about that…” He nodded towards the burnt-up pathway, eyelights trained on the scraps of fabric and dust sprinkled in the carnage. Papyrus twitched.

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry…” The smallest rubbed his arms nervously. “I tried to tell them not to go after Horror… They were trying to help me, but um, Horror doesn’t really _like_ the Pack.”

“…Oh.”

“But it’s okay!” Sans smiled a bit. He didn’t look exactly comfortable with the topic of the dogs’ deaths, but he was always one to find the bright side of things. “They’ll be back soon! We’ll just have Error force a Reset here soon, and the only issue will be you, and Frisk and Chara’s confusion!”

Papyrus nearly choked. “I- You can- You know about the Resets?!”

“Oh! Yes, I do! I guess that’s as good of a place to start as any, mweheh!”

“Sans!”

“What?” His brother tilted his head. “I’ve known for a while now. It was a little strange at first, but I’ve gotten used to it.”

“I- used to it? You’ve died! And you _kept this_ from me? All of this, not just the Resets.” He gestured to his brother’s friends, looking more defeated by the second. “Sans, why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you!”

Sans’ eyes narrowed, though he didn’t look overly angry like before — more annoyed. “Why didn’t _you_ tell me about the Resets? Or Frisk and Chara? Heck, even Temmie! Why didn’t you tell me about that scientist, or your powers, your _wings?_ Why didn’t you tell me about your _job?_ ” Papyrus flinched back at each accusation, becoming more and more baffled with just how much Sans _knew_. Seeing this, his brother deflated a bit. “I’m not mad at you for keeping secrets. As much as I wish we could be a team here, I… can understand why you wouldn’t tell me. But you have to understand that I couldn’t for my own reasons as well!”

Ink hummed, stepping forward with his palms pressed together in front of him. “He couldn’t tell you _because_ you’d try and help.”

Dream nodded solemnly. “Most of the OG universes aren’t supposed to find out about the Multiverse unless it’s absolutely necessary, or their Resets had stopped. Even then, we try and avoid it, just in case. It could change how the human acts or shift the timeline’s events towards something it’s not supposed to be. That can destabilize the AU.”

“That’s part of why Glitchtale is so screwed up right now, and that wasn’t even because of Multiversal interference,” Ink nodded, unnaturally calm about all of this. Papyrus didn’t know what that AU was, but judging by the subtle winces of the others, it wasn’t very good.

“I…” Papyrus sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “How did you even…?”

“After being in Error’s Anti-Void for as long as I had,” Papyrus huffed angrily under his breath, but didn’t interrupt, “my code was tweaked just a bit, so Resets didn’t erase my memory anymore. Ink came to me with the offer of joining the Star Sanses after I was let go, mainly because he had to make sure my sudden knowledge wouldn’t screw up Underswap.”

“Also, because Error _let him go,_ ” Ink added enthusiastically. “I _had_ to figure out why and how he did it. I’d been trying to get through to Ruru for _ages._ ”

With a short giggle, Sans continued, “I got all my information from Ink or other Sanses, usually. It was a bit disheartening to know how much you kept from me, but I also had to keep all this from you. I just figured you had your own reasons as well.”

“If you were allowed to know, then why couldn’t I?”

“We try not to get Papyruses involved much,” Lust explained. “It’s not so much because we don’t trust them rather than for their own safety. We meet for regular meetings with other OG Sanses, and if a Papyrus tried to get in as well, which we’re certain you’d do, it could end really badly.”

“Some of the alternate Sanses either lost their Papyrus, or have a bad relationship with them,” Sans said sadly. “Even before the Gang joined our meetings, some of them had really bad reactions to other Papyruses. We just couldn’t risk it.”

“It could be anything from having a panic attack to actively trying to kill that Papyrus. It’s just not worth the possible damaged, physically or mentally.”

Papyrus nodded along, furrowing his brows in a bit of worry. “So I can’t…”

Sans grimaced a bit, looking up at his brother apologetically. “No, you can’t come with me Paps. I’m sorry. It’s too much of a risk.” He paused for a second, worriedly watching his brother’s overwhelmed expression, before his eyelights brightened once again. “Well, actually, I _might_ be able to take you to some neutral AUs! I know Red’s been planning on bringing his human to Outertale as soon as their Resets are figured out! Candytale’s pretty nice as well. Oooh, and Dancetale’s really fun!” He turned those sparkling eyelights to Dream, as if asking permission.

(Ink pouted behind him, muttering something about being the _actual_ leader, but was largely ignored.)

Dream hummed a bit, but eventually shrugged. “As long as it was an AU that knows us and is out of their Resets themselves, I don’t see an issue with it.”

Snorting, Lust crossed his arms over his tank top. “Just can’t say no to those puppy eyes.”

Sans disregarded him, turning to giving his older brother a tight hug. As per usual, he picked the larger skeleton up by his hips and swung him around. “Yes! Pappy, you’re gonna _love_ Outertale! It’s like the Waterfall caves, but with so many more colors!”

Papyrus almost cheekily said a pun, hoping for some kind of normalcy in this situation, when Sans’ words clicked with him. He was talking about _stars._

That… would be really nice.

He’d seen stars before, of course, but only briefly. Any time Chara managed to get them to the Surface was usually cut short by midnight, at the latest. The days they get out were rather cloudy as well, so most of the sky was drowned out with dark blues and greys. It was still beautiful, but to see the actual, full experience…

Maybe things would be better this way after all. And all it took was his brother beating up a couple murderers and cursing him out. Huh.

“Well!” Ink kicked up his large brush into his waiting hand with a grin. “Now that that parts done, time to visit a glitch!”

All that positivity suddenly drained like an unclogged sink. Out of habit, Papyrus hugged Sans closer. “Uh, no. _You’re_ going to visit a glitch.”

Much easier than before, Sans brushed his arms off and sent a deadpanned, almost warning look up at him. “Error isn’t bad. He’s a friend!”

Papyrus hesitated, but still insisted, “Maybe, but I’m still not very comfortable with that idea.”

“Paps…”  
  


“No, Blue, you should stay here.” Dream agreed, softly. His wings were more dim now than the shimmery glow they had moments ago. “You can prove Error’s, er, _innocence_ later. For now, it’d likely be better if you stayed with him. I’m sure all of this is a lot.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, hun.” Lust nodded, smiling and nudging Sans’ wings a bit. “We’ve got this part covered. You guys probably need a bit to yourselves. Some family time, yeah?”

Sans looked dubious for a moment, but eventually relaxed and caved in. “Okay… I’ll see you guys at the next meeting, then!”

“Pff.” Ink splashed a glob of black ink on the hardened snow they’d been walking on. “Bold of you to assume we won’t steal you beforehand!”

“Bold of you to assume you’ll _remember to_ ,” Lust teased, already hopping into the puddle. Papyrus jolted as the skeleton disappeared as though he jumped in a hole. Really, he wasn’t sure why he was surprised anymore.

Gasping in offense, Ink popped in after him, yelling statements of betrayal and hurt as he too disappeared. Dream merely shook his head, gave them a wave of farewell, and slipping through as well.

There was a long moment of silence that likely only lasted a couple of seconds where the two just stared at the dark ink, watching it slowly bleed into the snow. Papyrus shifted a bit anxiously, folding his large wings in before turning to his brother.

Sans looked so… happy. Relaxed. He had a genuine smile on his face rather than the overly peppy ones he always wore. After all of this, the monster began to wonder if all those were fake.

No, he told himself. He would have been able to catch if they were fake. He was the Judge for a reason, and a hell of an actor himself. Still, this one seemed more real, and that meant the world to him.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!”

As if a light switch had been flipped, that familiar grin was back in place as his brother whipped around to face Alphys. Said Captain was running down the pathway from Waterfall, fully dressed in her armor with her bright yellow wings flared out behind her. When she got closer, realizing there was no immediate danger anymore, she ripped off her helmet and dropped it to the floor. With baffled and horrified eyes, the lizard monster took in the scene around her.

And really, what a scene it was. The main Snowdin Road torn to shreds, trees toppled to the ground, dusted guards on the floor, and two winged skeletons covered in colorful paint and debris standing at the very center. From an outside perspective, Papyrus couldn’t decide if this would be funny, or terrifying. Based off the Captain’s expression, he was assuming the latter.

“Hi, Alphys!” Sans greeted, flapping his wings like a wave. “Don’t worry! We have everything under control!”

“Under cont— I was told the entire Pack just got fucking DUSTED! Sans, how is that _under control?!”_

“Well, yes, but I mean under control _now.”_

Alph stared at him incredulously before turning her gaze to Papyrus. “The _fuck_ happened?!” she hissed. “That Asriel kid came barreling into me scared shitless and told me a bunch of skeletons were destroying Snowdin! Why the fuck didn’t anyone come to get me?!”

“Uh.” Papyrus looked down at his brother, who was starting to deflate as he realized Alphys was no longer addressing him. Slowly, he slipped his hands into his pockets and slouched, shrugging as he looked back at the other monster. “Well, I couldn’t do much, shit stats and all. It was really Sans here that held ‘em back. Nobody else could run for help. He was too busy bein’ awesome as hell.”

Sans looked back at him in amazed glee. Alphys just looked even more confused.

“I- You- Okay, whatever, we’ll talk about that later. But I thought you dorks were the only fucking skeletons?!”

“Well, I mean, there is the transport guy,” Papyrus muttered halfheartedly then shrugged again. “Otherwise, I dunno. Just kinda appeared, y’know? Seemed pretty _bad to the bone_ though.”

Sans groaned, but Alphys straight up ignored his pun, gripping at her head spikes frustratedly. “THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!”

“Oops. Sorry. I was asleep. Maybe ask my bro.”

“They aren’t from around here!” Sans supplied happily, glad he could finally be addressed. “They technically weren’t supposed to be here either, but that’s alright! They’re gone now! I held them off long enough for some other backup to come in!”

“What backup?! The only _backup_ I see are all dust on the floor!”

“Ah, not them. I tried to tell them not to get involved…”

“It’s their _job_ , Sans! _You_ are the one that shouldn’t have been involved!”

Sans hummed thoughtfully. “Yeah, technically, I guess. But also, _no._ ” Alphys actually _growled_. This might be the only time Papyrus had actually seen her mad at Sans. Sans seemed to notice this as well. He held up his hands calmingly. “I’m very sorry, Alphys! I don’t know how to explain this without _actually_ explaining it!”

Taking a deep breath, the lizard monster pinched the bridge of her snout in frustration. “Then why don’t you start by _actually explaining it._ Sans, I have _five Guards_ dead. Dusted, right here, apparently in front of you! Why are you not more concerned about this?! Either of you!”

“I dunno.”

“Ah, well, because it won’t really matter here soon anyways, mweheheh!” Sans grinned a bit apologetically. “I really am sorry they got in the line of fire… I try to avoid that as much as I can, but it’s not always possible. We hadn’t really expected to get tossed through a portal in the moment, so we were all kind of off our game. I got the rest of the citizens out as quickly as I could, because that’s usually my job, but the Pack just wouldn’t cooperate!”

Blinking a few times, Alphys shook her head, scrunching her eyes closed. “I… what? Portals? Job? What anime bullshit is this?!”

Sans just waved his hands. “Don’t worry! You’ll forget here soon anyway!” Papyrus snorted.

“WHAT DOES THAT EVEN-?!”

-:(o):-

“Papy! Papy, wake up!”

Groaning, Papyrus blinked open his eyes blearily, unconsciously rubbing his face further into the couch cushion. Standing above him was a familiar blue blur, slowly coming into focus. Mind still foggy, he barely registered the moment as a Reset, which just made him groan louder. Truly, sleeping once again seemed like the much better option. What else would he do? Get up? Gross.

He could practically recite the words his brother would say, having it so engrained in his mind. _C’mon, lazybones! It’s time for—_

“Pappy, you’ll be able to sleep again later! I wanted to talk to you before dinner!”

Oh.

That wasn’t on script.

The events of the last timeline flickered through his skull as the sleep finally dissipated from his mind. Seeing his brother fight ( _actually_ fight), those other skeletons, Error showing up, Sans yelling at him — it all flickered by like a shitty movie behind his eye sockets. For some reason, he almost expected it to all be a dream, or at least for the part about Sans remembering timelines to be false. Even just having his brother fall back into the pattern he’d kept up secretly, perhaps hoping Papyrus _would_ think it were a dream, seemed more likely than this.

However, as wonderful as pretending none of that happened sounded, the fact that Sans sat here, knelt on the floor in front of him with his wings folded neatly behind him like a blue cape, disproved that idea immediately. This was no regular Reset.

Irregularity meant unpredictability. Papyrus hadn’t realized how much he’d relied on that until now.

“’m up,” he grumbled, rubbing his eye sockets and sitting up. As per normal, he’d been laid across the couch comfortably, leaving no space for anyone else. That hadn’t ever necessarily stopped Sans from sitting on his legs instead, but that didn’t seem to be the case this time. “Wassup, bro?”

“Well, I know the last Reset wasn’t the most pleasant for you,” ah, if he had any doubt before, it was nonexistent now, “and I’m sure the last thing you want to do now is have any other heavy conversation, but…”

Papyrus raised a boney brow. “But?”

Fiddling with his fingers a bit, Sans turned that bright blue gaze up to meet his, a sorrow tint to his eyelights. “Many of the Sanses I meet do not… We are a swapped universe,” he restarted, closing his eyes as if to concentrate. “That means our roles are typically swapped around. There are other versions of that, like Storyshift, or Swapfell, but we are the original concept of a swap AU. To be blunt, the original Sans had your role — the lazy, slightly overprotective brother, obsessed with puns and drinking condiments while also being possibly one of the strongest and most serious monsters in the Underground. That, of course, means his Papyrus is the excitable, bubbly, absolutely amazing one, like me, but that’s besides the point.” Ah, and wasn’t that strange to imagine? Really, Papyrus had a difficult time picturing his brother as the depressed mess he was, and he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to see it. His brother was nothing less than incredible. Anything else was a lie.

That did explain a lot about the skeletons he saw yesterday as well. Namely, their Blastors and ability to teleport. Those were things only he was able to do here. The realization that many, likely _thousands_ of other skeletons, good and bad, also had access to that kind of power was… not a pleasant one.

He took a breath. That wasn’t something to think about now. That was something to think about at night, while he struggled to sleep and had nothing better to do than drown in his own paranoia.

“Sounds a bit _shifty._ ”

“I, pff.” Sans shook his head fondly. “That was horrible, even for you.” He eased up a bit. “What I’m trying to get at is I know a lot of Sanses in your role, and… well, I’ve seen a lot of their wings.” Papyrus froze, his shoulders aching at the mention. He’d almost forgotten his wings had been out almost the entire situation last timeline. It was so natural to have them hidden now, and being in the heat of everything then, he’d kinda forgot.

Really, after Sans had blatantly admitted to not recognizing him with his wings out, he should have remembered. Guess some other things were a bit more pressing at the time.

“I’m just… worried. About you,” Sans continued softly. “I know you struggle with some things inside, not just because Classic, Red, or any of the others feel that way. I can see it in your eyes, or your stance. Being around Dream and Sci so often, I picked up a bit on recognizing depression signs as well, but…” He took a breath before laying his hands on Papyrus’ knees, smiling up at the taller skeleton. “You don’t have to tell me anything. Goodness knows I won’t make you, especially not right now! I just wanted to be sure you knew I cared. Any brother of the Magnificent B- er, _Sans_ , is undoubtably _almost_ just as magnificent!” He paused before snorting. “Unless you’d rather be _the Great Papyrus_. I will support that as well!”

As if Papyrus needed any more proof his brother was just the _best._

He had no idea how this little ball of positivity reincarnated was able to stand being anywhere near him, let alone help him. Truly, Sans had no idea how much help he already gave Papyrus by just being here. He got to watch this skeleton grow up from a babybones, and he never stopped amazing him.

Nothing Papyrus did anymore was really for himself. If it were just him, he’d likely just waste away in this house, uncaring of Judge duties, or friends, or living his own life. Getting to the Surface, stopping the Resets, fighting a demonic ghost child — all of it was so his brother could be happy. He’d do anything to keep his brother happy.

… Yet, this whole time, he’d just been holding him back instead.

And _still_ , despite being a literal savior of worlds, Sans came back and offers to help _him._

He almost laughed at the thought. Really, Papyrus shouldn’t have thought any different. Dream had specifically complemented Sans on his ability to care for literally anyone: murderer, psychopath, glitch, or worthless brother included.

Sans really was something.

With a soft chuckle, Papyrus scooched forward and off the couch, kneeling on the floor by Sans. He encased the smaller into his arms and buried his face in the other’s neck. “I’m not up to talkin’ about my wings right now,” he admitted, shrugging a bit. Long forgotten memories of a cloaked figure, a strange machine, and the sound of breaking bones echoed through his skull. It was almost difficult to picture, despite being the _only one_ who ever could. He shook that thought from his mind. “It’s a long story, and honestly, I don’t know how to tell it yet. I _do_ know you’re the coolest dude in this house, and I’m very grateful that you’re even attempting to extend that coolness to me.”

Smaller arms wrapped around his ribs, quickly followed by massive wings, shielding them both with fluffy feathers. “I don’t have to extend anything to you. We just have to dig it back up from inside of you!”

“Nyeh, whatever, short-stuff.”

“Lazybones!”

Humming, Papyrus tightened his hug briefly, taking a moment to just enjoy the thrum of their souls together and the warmth between them. It felt… good, knowing he wouldn’t have to sneak around Sans anymore. No more massive, world-shattering secrets (well, mostly), or keeping up facades at home all the time. He could get used to this.

“Love you, bro,” he muttered.

“I love you too!”

Yeah, this was much preferred, looming threat of Murder-Sanses or not.

Which, speaking of…

“You aren’t allowed to have any of the bad versions of you over at the house. Ever.”

His brother snorted in surprise, falling into laughter afterwards. His wings shook with his mirth, jostling them out of their embrace. Gleeful, Sans met his gaze with a sniggering grin. “I never really planned on it,” he said, titling his head teasingly, “though I’m _sure_ Horror will miss your company.”

“Doubt it.”

“You both got along so well, though! He even hugged you!”

“He trapped me in a choke hold and threatened my life.”

“It’s just his way of saying he cares.”

“Yeah, about _you._ Did you miss the ‘threatened my life’ part?”

The two stayed on the floor laughing for a moment, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from the atmosphere. When his giggles finally calmed down, Sans stood with a large flap of his wings, knocking down a few pictures from the walls. “Well! I started dinner while you were asleep, as usual. BUT!” He grinned excitedly, hopping on his feet. “I can now show you all I’ve learned from other universes, not just Alphys!”

“Oh. Cool.” Papyrus tried not to cringe, thinking about all the _lovely_ tacos his brother had made in the past. He couldn’t _imagine_ what other versions of him were making.

Then again, they were swapped, right? Being a badly trained chef had to be a part of that role. Dream or Lust or _someone_ had to be decent throughout the multiverse. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Dream showed me how to bake, so there’s some cookies in the oven for later. I mainly help either Geno or Horror when it comes to cooking. When we’re all together, we can make some _really_ good pastas! As long as we make sure Horror isn’t in charge of the meat, at least.”

Ah, or not.

At least the cookies sounded edible.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I was planning on Sans' and Papyrus' bonding moment to stretch out with Paps actually coming clean about his mangled wings, but I'm very tired and it wasn't looking good lmao. Idk if I'll ever explain what happened to US Paps in another story, so if you really want an explanation, ask me here or in DMs haha.
> 
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> Instagrams:  
> [paintedkinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/paintedkinzy18/)  
> [nerdykinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/nerdykinzy18/)  
> Tumblr:  
> [painted-kinzy18](https://painted-kinzy18.tumblr.com/)


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